The Ten Commandments read “Thou shalt not murder”--not “Thou shalt not murder Jews”.   No one, without exception, is allowed to commit murder.  Murder is murder, and terror--no matter who perpetrates it—is terror.. Therefore, if Jack Teitl is found guilty, he can be called a terrorist- a Jewish terrorist-- with impunity by everyone. That is, by everyone except the Israeli media, who are only permitted to call him an “activist”, the term
Owning a rifle collection like the one discovered in Teitl’s home wouldn’t raise an eyebrow in the USA.
by which they denote Arab murderers and terrorists: e.g.a “Hamas activist”, a “Jihad activist”. No one has ever heard Israeli radio or television use the expression “Hamas terrorist” or “Jihad terrorist” for the same reason that no one has ever heard an announcer use the words “Barghouti, the murderer” as in the accepted media usage of “Yigal Amir, the murderer”. That’s our biased media for you.

No sooner were they allowed to publicize the charges, when the same Israeli media confidently pointed out the contributing causes and motives involved: the forgiving attitude towards the original Jewish underground of 30 years ago; ideological crime, a la Yigal Amir; failure to learn the lessons of Rabin’s murder; Rabbinic and other leaders’ support for violent activities, and most important: the settlements (how could we leave out the settlements?) which serve as fertile breeding ground for misfits.

However, the biased commentators skipped one contributing factor that any objective observer would not have been able to miss, the American background of the suspect: his
connection with the Marine Corps, his first murder committed while a tourist, and most important: a style that brings to mind the behavioral patterns of other American fanatics, focused weirdly on one idee fixe.

In the US, there is a grassroots passion for guns. The right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution. Owning a rifle and gun collection like the one discovered in Teitl’s home wouldn’t raise an eyebrow there.

Four American presidents were assassinated: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy, and some people believe that another three, who officially died natural deaths, were murdered as well. Attempts were made on the lives of another 13, including FDR, Truman, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan, both Bushes and Clinton. Most of the attackers were characterized by a weird mixture of violent tendencies and shallow “ideology”. Teitl’s style,
HIs style brings to mind the behavioral patterns of other American fanatics, focused weirdly on one idee fixe.
in the manner of the handbills he distributed saluting the “Holy Knights of the Lord” who sent “the black bear that killed two Sodomites” in a Tel Aviv bar, fits right in.

The American “Unabomber”, a genius who was an assistant professor of mathematics at 25, lived in solitude in a shack in Montana for 17 years during which period he sent 16
letter bombs to universities and airlines, killed 3 and wounded 23. The New York Times published his political agenda: the fight against limitations of human rights by powerful organizations that came into being due to modern technology. What fertile breeding ground would our media claim spawned him? He was only caught because his brother recognized his writing style. The FBI called him a “domestic terrorist” not a political terrorist. In the US, they didn’t take advantage of insanity to reap political profits for any party.

Timothy McVeigh, a decorated veteran of the Gulf War, blew up the Federal Government building in Oklahoma City: 168 killed (19 of them young children), 450 wounded. He was addicted to guns and owned several rifles and a handgun. What for? “In order to keep survival gear on hand for when the US is annihilated”. He was also upset by the FBI’s elimination of the “Davidites” in Waco, Texas. He reacted by committing that horrifying massacre. He did not express regret, and up until the day of his execution at the age of 33, claimed that he was sorry that he didn’t flatten the entire building.

President McKinley’s assassin (1901) babbled anarchistic idiocies. Anti abortionist groups spawned some madmen who murdered doctors. Are we seriously going to lump them together as “ideologically-politically” motivated, or are we simply going to classify them as certifiable?

Anyone really looking for a generic profile for the kind of person who does what Teitl is accused of, and not just another opportunity to bash the Right, will find it in his mental state and in the overseas breeding ground from which he immigrated, not at the doorstep of Rabbis and settlement leaders.